Childhood maltreatment and clinical response to mood stabilizers in patients with bipolar disorder

The association between childhood maltreatment (CM) and clinical response to mood stabilizers has been scarcely investigated in bipolar disorder (BD). Therefore, we assessed whether CM affects the response to lithium or anticonvulsant treatments in BD patients.

A retrospective assessment of clinical response to mood stabilizers was conducted in 97 euthymic patients with BD by means of the Alda scale. History of CM was investigated through the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.

Thirty-seven patients (24 with a history of CM and 13 without CM) were on stable lithium treatment while sixty (35 with a history of CM and 25 without CM) were on stable anticonvulsant treatment. Clinical response to drug treatment did not differ between BD with CM and those without CM in the whole sample as well as in the anticonvulsant-treated subgroup. In the lithium-treated subgroup, a significant negative correlation emerged between childhood physical abuse and clinical response and patients with CM showed a significantly reduced Alda score.

In BD patients, CM did not influence the clinical response to anticonvulsant mood stabilizers whereas it was associated with a poorer response to lithium with childhood physical abuse playing a major role in this effect.